Holiday Magic Bars

Magic Bars, Seven-Layer Bars, Hello Dolly Bars....

This cookie/candy hybrid has been a favorite of mine for many years. A graham cracker crust topped with any combination of semi-sweet, milk chocolate, butterscotch, peanut butter or white chocolate morsels, nuts, and coconut, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and baked into ooey, gooey perfection.

I was browsing through my kitchen cupboard, wondering what version I would make this year, when inspiration struck. How about a holiday version, with some cranberries and a little spice? And here's what I came up with.....

I thought about starting with a ginger cookie crumb base, but opted to go half ginger thins and half graham cracker, as the ginger thins I had were pretty spicy. Not that that's a bad thing - using just the cookies would have worked out fine, too. In fact, next time I think I'll do just that!

I started out with about a sleeve of graham crackers and a package of Anna's Ginger Thins, and tossed them into the food processor.

Process until you have fine crumbs and add about 3 tbsp melted butter.

Traditionally, I add a little sugar, but the cookies were sweet enough so I skipped it this time.

(Note: The meager amount of calories saved by omitting the sugar is, shall we say, negligible. Well, you'll see what I mean....)

Press into a buttered baking dish - my 9" x 9" was in use, so I used a 7" x 11".

Here's the fun part - you get to pick what you want to add to your bars. I used 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips, White Chocolate Chips (you'll want about 2 1/2 cups total, whatever combination you decide on), about 3/4 cup dried cranberries, about 2 tsp. minced candied ginger, 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans and about 1/2 cup shredded coconut. I should have tossed in some dried apricots, but I forgot!

Drizzle all THAT with a 14-oz. can of sweetened condensed milk.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Here's the tricky part.

Let cool completely.

Seriously, you'll have an ooey-gooey mess if you try to cut these before they're set. But when they are cool to the touch, you can go ahead and cut with a sharp knife, loosening up the sides first.

Very sweet, but a nice candy-like addition to my cookie platters! Hope my friends and family enjoy them - I think they will!

As for me? I'm craving a nice green salad with a light vinaigrette for some strange reason! ;)

Holiday Magic Bars

(Feel free to play around with measurements - this is a great "clean out the pantry" recipe)

2 cups graham cracker/ginger cookie crumbs

3 tbsp. butter, melted

2 1/2 cups chocolate and white chocolate chips

3/4 cup dried cranberries

2 tsp. minced candied ginger

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9" x 9" inch baking dish.

Combine crumbs and butter, and press into bottom of baking dish.

Sprinkle with chocolate/white chocolate morsels, cranberries, ginger, nuts and coconut.

Drizzle with sweetened condensed milk

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let cool completely and cut into squares with a sharp knife.